No, he hasn't died for your sins and he's not going to, but he will lose his freedom, his job, his reputation and probably his career because of our sins and his choice to put conscience above loyalty to George W. Bush; his choice to honor his oath to uphold and protect the US Constitution against all enemies, foreign and in the White House.
Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Diaz, a lawyer for the US Navy, will spend 6 months in prison for having mailed a list of names of 550 men held in secret without the right to council and without the right to know the charges against them to a civil rights lawyer in New York. He claims it was a stupid mistake and it was. He should have been more careful.
"My oath as a commissioned officer is to the Constitution of the United States," Diaz said. "I'm not a criminal."Not in any moral way and since doing what George W. Bush is doing is not only immoral but illegal and Unconstitutional, I will not call him one. Instead I will call him a patriot and a courageous one at that.
"I made a stupid decision, I know, but I felt it was the right decision, the moral decision, the decision that was required by international law," Said Diaz to The Dallas Morning News. "No matter how the conflict was identified, we were to treat them in accordance with Geneva, and it just wasn't being done. I think a good case could be made for allegations of war crimes, policies that were war crimes," he said. "There was a way to do this properly, and we're not doing it properly."Diaz disputes the administrations obvious lie that we do not torture and he disputes the statement that the prisoners are "the worst of the worst." It has been said that up to 80% have already been cleared of any charge even after years of torture and yet they remain, illegally denied du
e process and denied access to council despite the Constitution and despite a Supreme Court decision affirming their right to challenge their imprisonment. Because George W. Bush and his ironically named Department of Justice are refusing to say who is in those cages, no lawyer can represent them or defend them.No, Diaz will not die for your sins or because of them, but you and I are guilty and will remain so until we terminate the evil that has taken our ideals and our long struggle for justice and trampled them, mocked them and defiled them. Are we men? Are we citizens of a democratic republic? Well then, what are we doing when we tolerate this alien invader and his henchmen dragging us inexorably toward being just another evil dictatorship?
6 comments:
This is why George W. Bush should be impeached. He is a man without honor and it is so easy to see when you can hold him up in comparison to a man with honor.
What America has become under Bush is a disgrace.
The Navy LtCdr who just defending Osama's driver just won his case in the Supreme Court. Two weeks later, he was passed over for promotion and invited to leave the Navy. His boss says his service was outstanding, and seemed puzzled at the "coincidence." At least he's not going to jail.
Apparently, since the Constitution means nothing, neither does an allegiance to it. I've read where many of the other uniformed defense lawyers who served in Cuba have also had their careers cut short - what were they thinking when they actually tried to do their jobs well. Don't they get it? Are they unable to read sub-text?
This is Mr. Bush's country, and we're all his subjects. We'd better start realizing that.
I can't help feeling that reality is even worse than I suspect from reading these things. Every trick, every step that other tyrants have used to take over democracies is being used here and now and the level of outrage is so small in comparison to the danger.
They've done a great job of diverting attention to Mexican farm workers, Gay marriage, drugs and the like. That there aren't millions out in the streets demanding impeachment and prosecution still amazes me.
Here's a link. Apparently, the lawyer's prediction that he'd have to find a new job after winning at the Supreme Court was prescient.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/276109_swift01.html
I wouldn't worry too much about the future of a good and experienced lawyer. We probably haven't heard the last from either of these fellows.
This is the most disheartening story I have yet read...
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